JOSEPH HILLS AND THE MASSACHUSETTS LAWS OF 1648 REPRINTED FROM THE HISTORY OF MALDEN, MASS. 1633-1785 BY DELORAINE P. COREY BOSTON WILLIAM SANFORD HILLS i'oc IptilJatP distribution 1890 Glass Fb^ Book- 'H L>S / JOSEPH HILLS AND THE MASSACHUSETTS LAWS OF 1648 REPRINTED FROM THE HISTORY OF MALDEN, MASS. 1 633-1 785 -^it BY DELORAINE P. COREY II BOSTON WILLIAM SANFORD HILLS Jfor priliatc ©Mtribution 1899 7^HE chapter which is here reprinted, by permission, relates a single incident i^i the nseftil and honorable life of Joseph Hills. His activity and influence brought him into constant notice in the early days of the town of which he was a principal founder. His life will be fou7id iii detail in the volume mentioned below. THE HISTORY OF MALDEN MASSACHUSETTS - 1633-1785 Now ready in one volume, 8vo. Cloth, uncut, gilt tops, pp. xvii, 870. Illustrated by views of old houses, facsimiles, etc., including Tufts's plan of Maiden, 1795. Price, $6.co, postage or expressage not included. 29831. This volume covers the history of Malden, Melrose, and Everett, comprising the old town of Maiden, from the first visit of white men to the close of the Revolution. The origin and progress of the town, and its civil, military, and ecclesiastical affairs, are traced from public and private records, widely scattered documents, and family traditions. The material thus gathered has been carefully weighed and compared ; and no labor has been spared to make the result authoritative. Especial attention has been given to the soldiers of Philip's Jf'ar, the French wars, and the Revolution ; and each 7nan's service, prepared after a long and diligent research, is presented in detail. The volume will be forwarded, by express or other safe con- veyance, on receipt of the price by check, current in Boston or New York, or U. S. money order on Maiden or Boston. Address, D. P. COREY 2 Berkeley Street, Mai.den, Mass. CHAPTER VI. JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. OF the early settlers of Maiden, two men, above all others, filled prominent positions in the local affairs of the town and took no mean part in the civil and religious concerns of the Colony. Closely united by family ties, they were no less in- timate in their public lives ; and the stories of their careers will be found to have much in common, both in what they performed and in the honors which they received. They earliest bore the responsibilities and honors of the highest offices in the gift of their fellows ; and for a period of thirty- four years, from the incorporation of the town until the elder had removed and the younger had been stricken with blindness, they were the only representatives of the town at the General Court — the Congress of the young Colony. Each in his time was Speaker of the House of Deputies, an office which no other citizen of Maiden has taken to the present time. Both are 1 66 HISTORY OF MALDEN. nearly forgotten in the town where their busy Hves were passed, and which owes them much for what they did in its earHer days. Nothing remains of one, save the memory of the old town well at the corner of Main and Salem Streets, — Joseph Hills's well. Of the younger, we have a thick old English slatestone in the " burying place near Sandy Bank," and an ever present memo- rial in the sturdy form and honest name of Wayte's Mount. Joseph Hills was an inhabitant of Maldon, a town in the county of Essex in England, where, with his wife Rose, he lived, it is said, as " a woollen draper, having large transactions at London." ^ Whatever his calling may have been at that time, his apparent skill in legal matters and his career in New Eng- land justify the assertion that if he was not a lawyer by pro- fession he was so by his tendencies and habits and perhaps by education. We have his own testimony, given in 1639, in which, calling himself " of Charlestowne in New England, Woollen-draper, aged about 36 yeares," he tells of the transpor- tation of goods from Maldon to London " in an Jpsw*^'' Hye," which he cleared at the custom house " in the ship called the Susan & Ellen of London, whereof was Master M]' Edward Payne," in which he arrived in Massachusetts Bay, July 17, 1638.2 About the same time, or perhaps with him, came John Wayte, a son of Samuel Wayte of Wethersfield, a town about eighteen miles from Maldon. His mother, Mary, was an aunt, or a 1 Savage, Genealogical Dictionary, ii. friendship or of sisterhood in the church. 417. The statement in Coffin, History Still, I think that the words as twice of Newbury, 393, that he was from used and the provisions of the will im- Shrewsbury, although, perhaps, tradi- ply a relationship ; and I venture to tionary, is an evident error. Savage's suggest that Elizabeth, the second wife supposition that Rose Hills was a sister of Henry Dunster and the mother of of President Dunster has been accepted his children, was a sister of Helen as a genealogical fact by most writers; Atkinson. The will may be found in but there was no ground for the suppo- Chaplin, Life of Henry Dunster, 303- sition at first. Dunster's will, which was 30S. written in 1658, mentions "my sister - Lechford, AW^-jS'wZ', 91. Mr. Hills Mrs. Hills of Maul don," and appoints appears to have been received as a Joseph Hills an overseer. If the Mrs. person of some importance among the Hills of that date was his sister, it was new comers ; as thirteen days after his not Rose, who had been dead eight arrival, he was admitted as a townsman years. The living wife was Helen, or and received the grant of land at Mystic Eleanor, Atkinson ; and the title may Side which is elsewhere noticed, have been used as a recognition of JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 167 sister,'^ of the celebrated Rev. Nathaniel Ward of Ipswich, whose Simple Coblcr of Aggavvam in America dsi6. his services in compiling the Body of Liberties have given him an undying name among the fathers of New England. John Wayte, who was in 1638 about twenty years of age, soon married, if he had not already done so in England, Mary, the young daughter of Joseph Hills, and following into the forests of Mystic Side he seated himself near his father-in-law, on the south-west side of Mount Prospect, which took from him its later names of Cap- tain's Hill and Wayte's Mount.^ The coming of Joseph Hills as an undertaker in the ship which brought him to New England gave him, perhaps, some distinction over humbler adventurers ; and his abilities soon brought him into notice and employment. He was received 3 Probably a sister. For the infor- mation compiled from the Candler and Tanner manuscripts in the British Mu- seum and Bodleian Library see the pedi- grees in Dean, Alemoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, 129, and N. E. Hist, and Getieal. Register, xli. 2S2. * John Wayte had received a grant of eight acres in the vicinity of Wayte's Mount from the town of Charlestown in 1647. In 1654 he bought of John Coggan, who had married the widow Coytmore after the death of her second husband, Governor John Winthrop, sev- eral parcels of the Coytmore land, one of which was bounded on the west by the brook " below the falls and by the Pond above the falls," and on the east, by the common and other land of John Wayte. Over this land ran " a cart way of Two rods wide from the falls streight forth into the Country way;" in which may be found the origin of an old way over which Mountain Avenue now passes from Main Street to the brook or, more likely, that of the way long known as Barrett's or Dye House Lane and now as Barrett Street. In this parcel was included Mount Prospect, which was to be defended against " the Towne of Mauldon wch is vallued at five pounds." Midd. Co. Deeds, ii. 18. The house, which he built and where he died, stood on the easterly side of Main Street, north of Mountain Avenue, on land which, in 1SS5, was owned by the heirs of Otis Tufts. Atlas of Mai- den, 1SS5, plate xvi. On this site, in a house which probably contained a por- tion of the old building, if it was not that structure itself, died in 1797 Edward Newhall, to whom it had come by an unbroken descent in the fifth genera- tion. It was afterwards owned and occupied by the late Joseph Warren Tufts. In the division of the estate of Cap- tain John Wayte, his house and lands near Wayte's Mount became possessed by his third son, vSamuel ; and, at the death of the latter in 1720, they passed to his younger children, Edward and Jabez. Edward retained the old house and land east of the Reading road, which passed at his death to the New- hall family. Jabez took his share in the westerly land and built the house which recently stood at the corner of Main and Clifton Streets. This house, occupied successively by the son and grandson of its builder, was known from them as the Micah or Peter Waite house. In its later days, it passed through the descending conditions of dilapidation and ruin, until at last, no longer habitable, it was burned, October 10, 1S93. 1 68 HISTORY OF MALDEN. into the church of Charlestown, with his wife, soon after his arrival ; and, although he was not admitted as a freeman until 1645, he was chosen a selectman of the town in 1644. Al- though he appears in the Book of Posses- sions as the owner of a house " in the middle row," near the market place, it is probable that he soon removed to the land which was granted him at Mystic Side.^ He represented the town of Charlestown in the House of Deputies during the years 1646 and 1647, ^"^ was chosen Speaker in the latter year. It was during these ^ The grant of land to Joseph Hills and his early purchase of the twenty acres of Thomas Ruck and a portion of the lot of Thomas Coytmore have been elsewhere noticed. The land em- braced in these parcels lay on each side of the Salem Path, and was described, in 1638, as woodland. That on the northern side extended from the way now known as Main Street to the rocks at Faulkner. On the southern side, it began at the present easterly line of the High School land and ran to the swamp which began at the ancient path now called Cross Street. Southerly, it was bounded by Pemljerton's Brook ; but, later, Mr. Hills became possessed of all the land south of the brook and north of Cross Street to its junction with Ferry Street. Whether Coytmore had built upon his land at the present corner of Salem and Main Streets and dug the well, which for nearly two centuries and a half yielded its cooling waters for the use of man and beast is unknown ; but there is reason for believing that Joseph Hills was in the enjoyment of both house and well as early as 1650. To this house he refers late in life as his "lesser house and ground," he having built another house upon the Salem Path near the present Sprague Street, to which he may have removed and which he sold in 16S1, with sixty acres of land, to Thomas Newhall of Lynn, who had married his granddaughter, Rebecca Green. This farm was bounded on the north by Mount Prospect, or Wayte's Mount, and on the south by the water course, or Pemberton's Brook. Thomas Newhall removed to Maiden and became the ancestor of that branch of the Newhall family which still re- mains here. Two years before the sale to Thomas Newhall, Joseph Hills had sold to Joseph Wilson, for eighty-five pounds, the house, with eight acres of land, at the corner of the Salem and Reading roads. Wilson was a blacksmith ; and his shop was one of the public places of the town where notices were posted. It may have been upon the westerly side of Main Street, as tradition says that the rubbish of a forge was found there while excavating many years ago. To the land bought of Joseph Hills, Wilson added, in 1699, six acres of the Wayte land, which gave him a strip of fourteen acres from the Salem road to Wayte's Mount. This land, with other lots in various parts of the town, he owned at the time of his death in 1705. After the death of their father, John, in 1741, Elizabeth and Tabitha Wilson, sjjinsters and granddaughters of Joseph Wilson, were joint owners and occu- pants of the house. Tabitha married Benjamin Parker in 176S; and nine years later, Elizabeth, at the age of sixty-five years, became the third wife of James Kettell, who is variously styled baker, tavern-keeper, deputy-sheriff, and jail-keeper. It was he who transformed the house of Joseph Hills into a tavern, the succeeding history of which will be considered in its place. Vide, chap. xix. JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 69 years that he became " active for to bring the Lavves of the County in order," ^ This service, which was fully recognized at the time, was forgotten in the course of years. In 1867 the honors which he had earned by a series of faithful labors were appropriated for another; and Edward Johnson, of Woburn, the author of the Wonder-working Providence of Sions Saviour, passed into written history as the compiler of the Massachusetts Laws of 1648." This error, originating in a work of importance and ability, has been repeated by later writers with an air of authority, which might effectually stifle all doubts were not the records extant in which the whole story is clearly related. The able editor of the Wonder-working Providence gives his author a prominent part in the labor and honor of the compila- tion of the Laws, although he does not claim that he was the chief compiler. He declares, however, that, " when Captain Johnson was on the committee, then, and only then, efficient progress was made in the work." That Mr. Poole had over- looked a more important person than Lieutenant Johnson was promptly shown by a writer in the Historical Magazine^ and soon after by the present writer in the Maiden Messenger? What the latter, with its limited local circulation, did not accomplish, the former, then the leading historical publi- cation in America, also failed to effect; and the truth in relation to the real compiler remained comparatively un- known. Nine years later the claim of Edward Johnson was reasserted in a report of the Council of the American Anti- quarian Society,^*^ with an appearance of certain knowledge which can hardly fail to ensnare the unwary reader; but it re- mained for a writer in the Winchester Record to perfect the work. After a reference to a strife which he assumes took place between the magistrates and the deputies over the laws, the latter writer says : — ^ Johnson, Woiidcr-worJdng Provi- ** '^Yoox^m. Historical IlTagazhie.xmZ'^. deuce, no. 9 Maiden Messenger, May 16, 1 868. "^ Poole, Introduction to Wonder- ^"^ American Antiq. So. Proc, April, working Providence, ciii. et seq. 1877, 29, 30. I/O HISTORY OF MALDEN. Committee after committee had been appointed, whose work was frustrated, until Captain Johnson was put upon such a committee in 1648, when the work was speedily done. He devotes a chapter in his book to exultation that the thing so long desired was at length accom- plished, yet he does not speak of what every one else kneiu, his own agency in the matter.-'^ Considering the insufficiency of the foundation of the claim in its original form, this exaggerated statement is an eminent example of how theories, growing by transmission, appear at last as facts and take the place of authentic history in the minds of those who write without investigation. The three writers here considered intimate that the work of the committees was purposely delayed or their purposes frus- trated, except when Johnson was present. A more eminent authority, writing in i860, says: — There is no reason to suppose that they who now had the business in charge desired to frustrate it ; but it was not of a nature to be, at the same time, well and hastily done.^- Referring to the late Francis Calley Gray, whose well-known article is still the best that has been written on the early history of our laws,^^ it is said that " it is remarkable that Mr. Gray should have failed to connect Johnson with the original publi- cation of these laws." ^^ Mr. Gray's article is clear in its state- ment of facts and polished in their presentation. It is the work of a scholar and careful investigator; and it would have been remarkable had its author anticipated the later error and given Edward Johnson a place to which he had no right. He did mention, in several extracts from the Colony Records, the name of "the leading man; " and Johnson, himself, speaks of Joseph Hills as " active for to bring the Lawes of the County in order." ^^ The facts which Mr. Gray did not recognize as important, and on which is based the undeserved distinction of Lieutenant Johnson, are that he was a member of the committee at times ; 11 Winchesier Record, i. 45, 46. ^^ American Aniiq. So. Proc, April, 12 Palfrey, History of lYcw Enghuid, i^'JT, 30. ii. 261. ^^ Wonder-zuorking rnn'idcnce, \10. 13 ISIass. Hist. Coll., xxviii. 191. JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 17 1 that, in 1648, he was "pressed w'^ many urgent occasions; " and that he mentioned with apparent pleasure the completion of the laws. Not a very firm foundation is this on which to build the reputation of " a wise and energetic legislator." It is not the purpose of this chapter to tarnish the merited fame of Edward Johnson but to restore to one who deserves them the honors which time has obscured. In the year 1641 the Colony of Massachusetts Bay adopted for a trial of three years the first code of laws in New England. This was the famous Liberties of the MassacJuiscts Colonie in New England, better known as the Body of Liberties, of Na- thaniel Ward, which, after remaining in manuscript two hundred years, was found by the late Francis C. Gray and printed in 1843.^^ These laws being proved by experience during the allotted period, the necessity of the establishment of a perma- nent code, in which the fundamental laws that Ward had pre- sented should be revised and enlarged, became apparent. Several orders, anticipating such a work, had been passed since the presentation of the Liberties. It has been said that little was accomplished under these orders by " the Magistrates, who did nothing, and whose interest was to do nothing;"^" but I infer that the magistrates wisely desired to test the code by its operations and a careful consideration, as its tentative adop- tion allowed, rather than to hazard the permanent acceptance of laws which might be adverse to the interests of the Colony and unsuited to the temper and habits of the people. When the appointed time was fully expired, the following order was passed. ri645: 1 Itt is ordered, y' seuerall p''sons out of each county shall be chosen to dravve vp a body of lawes, & p''sent them to y" consideration of y" Genna'all Cou'te, at their next sitting.^^ Under this order, committees of six persons from each of the three counties of the Colony were appointed. At the next session of the Court, in October, some changes were made in the formation of these committees, and they were desired ^^ Mass. Hist. Coll., xxviii. 216, et scq. ^** Mass. Colony Records, iii. 26. ^^ Introduction to Wondcr-zvorkiiig Prozndence, ciii. 172 HISTORY OF MALDEN. To appoint their owne meetings for the accomplishment of the end so desired, & to make their returne of what they shall do herein to the next siting of y" Generall Court. ■'^ The committee from Middlesex was composed of Herbeht Pelham of Cambridge, Increase Newell of Charlestown, the Rev. Thomas Shepard of Cambridge, the Rev. John Knowles of Watertown, Joseph Hills of Charlestown, and Lieutenant Edward Johnson of Woburn. It is worthy of notice, as an evi- dence of some peculiar fitness in the person chosen, that while the committees, except in this instance, consisted of magistrates, ministers, and deputies, Joseph Hills, who was neither, was placed upon the Middlesex commission. He was not appointed upon the commission as it was first constituted ; but upon the resignation of Captain George Cooke of Cambridge, who was Speaker of the House that year, he was put ^° " in Capt. Cookes roome, at his request." Johnson and Knowles appear to have taken no part in the deliberations of the Middlesex committee.^^ It does not appear that the work of the committees, which was simply preparatory, was not fully and promptly performed ; and there is reason for believing that a code drawn by Joseph Hills from the statutes of England and other sources was ac- cepted by the Middlesex committee as the result of their labors, which, with the reports of the other committees, was before the General Court at the session in May, 1646. The book of Mr. Hills was afterwards lost; and "although it were in harvest time," he made another copy for the use of the committee which was appointed by the Court in the following order. [May 6, 1646.] This Cou'te thankefully accep*'^ y" labo'''' of y^ seu- e^all committees of y" seuerall shieres as they are retou''ned by them, & being very vnwilling y' such p''etious labo'^s should fall to y*^ ground \v"'out y' good successe as is genne^ally hoped for, have though' it meete to desier Richard Eellinghm, Esq"", & Left Duncan, M' Nowell & Lef ' Johnson, M"' Symonds & M' Warde, to cawse each committees re- tou^ne about a body of lawes to be transcribed, so as each committee 19 RIass. Colony Records, ii. 128. working-man," Edward Johnson, is 20 Ibid. claimed to have been most serviceable. -1 This is to be noted, as it was in Vide Introduction to Wonder-working the labors of this committee that " the Providence, ciii. civ. JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 73 have the sight of y*^ othe''s labo''s ; & y' y" p''sons mentioned in this o''der be pleased to meete together at or before the tenth of August next, at Salem or Ipswich, & on y*" p''vsing & examining y'^ whole labor^ of all the committees w"' y" abreviation of y^ lawes in force, w"'' M' Bel- linghm tooke great store of paynes, & to good pu''pose, in & vpon y^ whole doe make retourne to y" next session of y^ Courte at w"'' time y^ Courte entends, by y*" favo' & blessing of God, to p''ceed to y^ estab- lishing of so many of them as shallbe thought most fitt for a body of lawes amongst vs.^^ There was not a great advance in the work during the months which intervened between this and the succeeding session of the Court. There were the codes of the shire committees to be brought into unity and to be compared with the existing laws; and the lost compilation of Mr. Hills was to be restored. There were also other affairs which could not be passed by; and it was not strange that the committee could not present a completed code at the appointed time. That they did not is evident from the action of the Court, although, misled by con- fidence in Lieutenant Johnson's presence, it is said that " the committee completed their labors." ^'^ In the order of the Court thereupon, the failure of the committee to perfect its work is recognized. There is no indication of dissatisfaction at the result nor is a censure implied in the action which was taken ; but a full sense of the importance of the labor and the necessity of care in its performance is expressed. It may be observed that Mr. Hills, whose labor had forwarded the work, was now given a place, by name, upon the committee and that Lieutenant Johnson was not reappointed. [November 4, 1646.] The Co'te, being deeply sensible of y"" ear- nest expectation of the country in gen'all for this Co'ts compleating of a body of lawes for y'^ betf & more ord'ly weilding all y'' affaires of this common wealth, wiling also to their utmost to answere their honest & harty desires therein, unexpectedly p'vented by multitude of oth'' press- ing occasions, thinke fit & necessary y^ this Co''te make choyce of two or three of o' honored magistrats, w''' as many of y*" deputies, to p'use, examine, compare, transcribe, correct, & compose in good order all y*" liberties, lawes, & orders extant w"' us, & furth"' to p''use & p'fect all such ^'■^ Mass. Colony Records, iii. 74, 75. 23 Introduction to Wonder -working Providence, ciii. 1/4 HISTORY OF MALDEN. oth's as are drawne up, & to p'sent such of them as they find necessary for us, as also to suggest what they deeme needful to be aded, as also to consider & contriue some good methode & order, titles, & tables for compiling y" whole, so as we may have ready recourse to any of them upon all occasions, whereby we may manifest o'' utf disaffection, to arbitrary governV, & so all relations be safely & sweetly directed & p'fected in all their iust rights & priviledges, desireing thereby to make way for printing o' lawes for more publike & p''fitable use of us & o' successo''s. C hqno''ed Gov'^n'', M' Bellingham, M"" Hibbens, M' Hill, & M"" Duncan, as a committee for y*" busines above mentioned, or any three of them meeting, y" oth' haveing notice thereof, shalbe sufficient to carry on y*^ worke.^* There is no evidence that the work of compilation and com- parison was not diligently followed, although the writer before quoted sees that, as the " working man " had been removed, "little or nothing was done."^^ Care and deliberation, no doubt, retarded a labor which it would have been unwise to hurry or imperfectly perform. At the next Court, the inade- quacy of the time was admitted ; but it is apparent that the new code was so far advanced that a limit could be placed for its completion. Lieutenant Johnson was now restored to the committee. [May 26, 1647.] The Co'te, und'standing y' y'' committee for pTecting y"" lawes appointed by y" last Gen'all Co'te, through streights of time & oth'' things intervening, have not attained what they expected, & on all hands so much desired, touching a body of lawes, thinke meete & necessary y' o"^ honored Gov^n"", M' Bellingham, M' Hibbens, y*" Audi- to"' Gen''all, Leift Johnson, & M'' Hills be chosen as a committee of this Co'te to do y" same, according to y*" aforesaid ord', against y*" next ses- sions in y" 8"' m°. or y*" next Gen''all Co'te.^^ The connection of Lieutenant Johnson with the committee may not have delayed its action. There is no evidence that it hastened what was already near completion. The work of the committee at large now appears to have been one of criticism or approval. The weightier labor of preparation and arrangement had been left to Mr. Hills; and that it had been left in careful and skilful hands the code of 1648, as it has been preserved in ^■i Mass. Colony Records, ii. i6S, 169. "^^ Mass. Colony Records, ii. 196. 25 Introduclion to Wonder-working Providence, civ. JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 75 that of 1660, bears ample proofs. At the next session of the Court the results were evident. " Five Books or Rowls," pre- pared by Joseph Hills, were presented and the transcription of a perfect copy for the press was authorized. This action was taken in two orders, the latter of which was passed towards the close of the session. Edward Johnson, whose presence upon the committee had been intermittent, was again dropped and appeared no more in connection with the compilation of the early laws.^'^ [November 11, 1647.] The lawes being to be put in print, it is meete y' they should be conveniently penned ; y'^fore it is desired y' y^ committee for drawing up y" lawes wilbe carefuU y'in, & to y' purpose they have lib''ty to make some change of forme, to put in apt words, as occasion shall require, pVided y"" sence & meaning in any law, or p''t thereof be not changed.^^ [November 11, 1647.] The lawes now being in a mann"" agreed upon, & y*^ Co''te drawing to an end, it is time to take ord' : i. How all alfations of form'' lawes may be, w'^out mistaking, compared & fair written; 2. Y' all ould lawes not altered be also written in y" same coppy ; 3. Y^ y"' be a committee chosen for y'' busines, to be made ready ag" y^ first day of y*" first m° next, so as y*^ Co''te of Assistants, if they see cause, may advise for a Gen''all Co'te, to p'pare y™ for y*" presse. 4. Y' y"' be larg margents left at both sides of y^ leafe, & y^ heads of each law written on y*^ two outsides y''of, & upon y*^ oth"" margent any references, scriptures, or y*^ like; 5. Y' these be written coppy wise. The GoVn', W Bellingham, M'' Hill, M'' Auditor, & W Ting are ioyned in y*" committee, to act according as in y^ pap"' is expressed.-^ The new code, being completed and approved, although there is no record of its formal acceptance, was now in the hands of the committee for its final examination. Two copies were made for the press, one, perhaps, by Mr. Hills himself, the other, cer- tainly, by his son-in-law, John Wayte. The following orders 2^ "[March, 164^^.] Leift Johnson, his biographer. "It is highly probable upon his request, (being pressed vv'^ that he was wholly absorbed during the many urgent occasions,) is dismised spring, summer, and fall in revising and fro"' any furth"^ attendance on y^ service printing the Massachusetts Laws of of y^ Coi'te." Mass. Colony Records, ii. 1648." Introduction to Wonde7--iuo7king 231. This extract is of little interest. Providence, cv., cvi. except that it may be noted as forming ^^ Mass. Colony Records, ii. 209. the corner stone of the Johnson theory. 29 Ibid., 217, 218. " What was this urgent business ? " asks 1/6 HISTORY OF MALDEN. contain the action of the Court concerning the two copies; and it was by the authority of the second order that the new laws were sent to the press, [March, 164^.] The Ccte doth conceive it meete that John Wayte of Charlestowne Village, shall be alowed out of the next country rate, for his writing one booke of the lawes, & for finding paper for bothbookes, 4' i8sii\^<' [March, 164^.] The Co'te doth desire that M"" Rawson & M^ Hill compare y^ amendments of the bookes of lawes passed, & make them as one ; & one of them to remaine in y" hands of y^ committee for y^ speedy committing of them to the presse, & y" oth"" to remaine in y^ hands of y'^ Secretary, sealed up, till y*" next Co'te.^^ In the May following the new code was at the press, and it seems probable that the printing was completed during the year, although, perhaps, not until after the adjournment of the Court in the fall.^^ It may be remarked that the Auditor- General, Nathaniel Duncan, and Joseph Hills, are the only persons who are mentioned in connection with the work of printing. [May 13, 1648.] It is ordred, that the coppie of lawes in the two roles, which were by order of Court sealed vp, with intent that, if here- after any question should arise about the coppie now at the presse, it might be examined by this, wherby the faythfullnes of the committee might be tried, & that the other coppie, now remayning with M' Hill, should forthwith be sent for, for the vse of the Court. ^^ [May 13, 1648.] Its ordred, that the audito' gen: & M' Joseph Hill shall examine the lawes now at the presse, & to see if any materiall law be not put in or mentioned in the table as beinge of force, & to make suply of them.^* [October 27, 1648.] It is ordred by the Court, that the booke of lawes, now at the presse, may be sould in quires at 3*" the booke ; 30 Mass. Colony Records, ii. 227. ber, 1648, that a price could be set upon i^i Ibid., 230. it ; and if it was not presented to the 3'-2 I prefer to call the first publication Court until May, 1649, it was because of the Laws the MassacJmsetts Laivs of the Court did not meet between the 16^8, although Whitmore, in his intro- close of the October session and that duction to the Colonial Laws of Massa- time. Johnson says, "in the year 1648 chusetts, 1660, 79, prefers the date of they were printed." 1649. It seems evident from the ex- ^3 j[fass. Colony Records, iii. 125. tracts given in the text that the book ^ Ibid., 130. was so far towards completion in Octo- JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 77 pVided, that every member of this Court shall haue one without price, & the audito' generall, & W Joseph Hills, for which there shall be fifty in all taken vpp, to be so disposed of by the appoyntment of this Court. ^^ So the Lawcs and Libertyes of Massachusetts Bay,^^ the first printed code of enacted laws in New England, was given to the world, in the words of Edward Johnson, who would have been surprised at the claim which a later generation has made for him, To be seen of all men, to the end that none may plead ignorance, and that all who intend to transport themselves hither, may know this is no place of licentious liberty, nor will this people suffer any to trample down this Vineyard of the Lord.^'^ This book, which was printed by Stephen Daye at the press in Cambridge, was probably issued in an edition of six hundred copies. Mr. Whitmore has shown, by the traces which are left in the Laws of 1660, that it contained about fifty-six pages of text ; and other matter may have filled out the sixty-eight pages of the seventeen sheets which appear to have been used."^*^ It was carried to each town in the Colony, and was in the hands of all the leading men. It was carried out of Massachusetts, and left its impress upon the laws of at least two colonies. Yet it has utterly disappeared. In less than ten years no copies were " to be had for the supply of the Country." ^^ How long stray copies may have remained may not now be known ; but 35 Mass. Colony Records, m.i^^. It is Massachusetts, 1660, 86, 95. American significant that Johnson, who was not a Antiq. So. Proc, April, 1888, 299, 300. member of the Court in that year, was ^9 Address "to our beloved Brethren not considered in the distribution. and Neighbors," prefixed to the Massa- '^ If the title of the Laws of 1648 is chusetts Laws of 1660. The laws of preserved in that of the edition of 1660 Massachusetts and the codes of Con- it was, The I Book of the General jl^wvK'i necticut and New Haven maybe com- AND 'Ln&'E.RTY¥.^ I concerning the Iiihab- pared in Whitmore, Colonial Laws of itants of the I Massachusets, collected out of Massachusetts, 1660; Trumbull, Public the Records of j the General Court, for Records of the Colony of Connecticut, i. the several years I wherin they were made 509, 563; Hoadly, Records of the Colony and I established. A similar title, with 0/ A''ew Haven, \\. z,-] 1,61 6- The code of extracts from the book itself, is pre New Haven was first printed at London, served in Thorowgood,_/t'7i7(?j-/«/^OT('r/V(?, in 1656; and the reader is advised that published in 1650. Vide N. E. Hist, and " they have made use of the Lawes pub- Geneal. Register, xliv. 129. lished by the Honourable Colony of the ^' Wonder-working Providc7ice, 206. Massachusets." ^ Introduction to Colonial Laws of 12 178 HISTORY OF MALDEN. none have been found in the old collections which were being gathered when such copies might well have been in existence. For half a century antiquaries and scholars have looked in vain for the one copy which, if found, would be one of the most precious books known in American bibliography. It is worthy of note that, while a supplement to the laws was published in 165 1, and others, perhaps, in 1654 and in 1657, "ot a leaf or scrap has been recognized as belonging to them. Nevertheless, the work of Joseph Hills has not wholly passed away; for as the code of 1672 contains the form of that of 1660, so the latter has preserved for us its predecessor of 1648 ; and the careful student, by the help of its marginal references, may reconstruct, in part, the pages of the earlier book. At the session of the General Court in May, 1649, when the printed code was presented as a finished work and may have received its final approbation, the services of Mr. Hills were recognized in the following vote : — [May II, 1649.] M' Joseph Hill is graunted, as a gratuity, tenn pounds, to be paid him out of the treasury, for his paines about the printed lavves.''" At the same Court, with Richard Bellingham, the Secretary, Increase Nowell, and Edward Rawson, Mr. Hills was appointed to examine and put in fitting order the public papers received from the late Governor, John Winthrop ;" and in the fall of the same year, the Court, by the following order, showed its appre- ciation of the printed laws and its approval of the labors of Joseph Hills. [October 18, 1649.J The Courte, finding by experience the great benefitt that doth redound to the country by putting of the lawes into printe, doe judge it very requisite that those lawes also that have past the consent of the Gennerall Courte since the booke of lawes were printed should be forthw'*^ committed to the presse, and therefore have appointed Richard Bellingham, Esq^ A'F Increase Nowell, M^ Nathaniell Duncan, Capt RoV Keajne, and M' Joseph Hill, or any three of them, a committee to pWse and prepare them, w'** those lawes also referred to in the end of the printed lawes, w*'' a suitable table, making their retourne to the next Courte of Election, that they may be printed.^' 40 Mass. Colony Records, iii. 162. " Ibid., 164. *'^ Ibid., 173. JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 79 The work thus ordered was apparently performed with care, and was not completed until a year had passed, when the result was presented to the Court and approved by its action. [October i8, 1650.] Itt is ordered, that Richard Bellingham, Esquier, the secretary, and M"' Hills, or any two of them, are appointed a committee to take order for the printing the lawes agreed vppon to be printed, to determine of all things in reference therevnto, agreeing with the praesident ffor the printing of them withall expedition, and to allow the title if there be cawse.''^ This book, which was printed by Samuel Green, the successor of Daye, at the Cambridge press, contained some laws which had been left out of the former code and all others to the close of the year 1650; and it is referred to as Liber 2 in the margins of the laws of 1660 and 1672. Joseph Hills was afterwards placed upon several committees for the examination of new laws; and in 1654, when the print- ing of a second code appears to have been contemplated, it was ordered : — [May 3, 1654.] That M' Samuel Symonds, Majo"" Denison, & M' Joseph Hills shall examine, compare, reconcile, & place together in good order all former lawes, both printed & written, & make fitt titles & tables for ready recourse to any p'ticuler contayned in them, & to p'sent the same to the next Court of Election to be considered of, that so order may be taken for the printing of the same in one booke, whereby they may be more usefull then now they are or can be.** In 1 66 1, the laws having been reprinted in the edition of 1660, Joseph Hills was joined to a committee with the deputy- governor, Richard Bellingham, and others " to pervse such lawes as are vnprinted & vnrepealed, & committ them to the presse, so farr as they shall judge convenient." *^ That the services of Mr. Hills in' the preparation and codi- fication of the laws should have been forgotten is somewhat remarkable in view of the distinctness with which he appears in the records which I have cited. More remarkable still is it that, after more than two centuries had passed, another, who receives but a meagre mention in connection with the trans- *3 Mass. Colony Records, iv. (i), 35. *^ Ibid., iii. 342. ^^ Ibid., iv. (2), 5. l8o HISTORY OF MALDEN. action, should have been brought forward to claim his hardly earned honors. However, Joseph Hills, unconscious that he was writing his defence against a far-off generation, twice put upon record, while his story, if false or overstated, could have been disproved, such full and distinct statements of his labors that no room is left for doubt ; and those statements were ad- mitted by those who had an intimate knowledge of his life and services. The first of these was that petition which he addressed to the General Court in 1653. To the Honnor^ Court Jn as much as it hath pleased the Gen^all Court to engage me in sundry great and weighty services in refference to all the generall laws here established & now in print ffor publiq good, Jn Considera": whereof as J conceive a Gratuity of Ten pounds was Appointed me by the Treasu'': which as it holds forth the good acceptance of the Hono'd Court, J thankfully acknowledge, as duty binds me Yet App'hending that my Great care paynes & studies in these difficult Jmployments was not truly Jnformed or vnd'stood, J desire briefly to tender you an Ac- count thereof as ffollows : 1. fifirst it pleased the Gen''all Court to jmploy me in a sheir Com- mitte to draw vpp a Body of Laws in which J tooke vnwearied payns, p''using all the Stat. Laws of Engl, in Pulton att Large out of which J took all such as J conceiued sutable to the condition of this commonw'"' which with such others as in my observation Experiences & Serious Studies J thought needful, all w'^!' J drew vpp in a Booke close written Consisting of 24. pages of pap' Jn folio, which uppon the Committees p'"usa]. viz. M' Noel. IVL Pelham AL Tho: Shepp'd & my self. J was Appointed to draw upp for the vse of the Gen'" Court, which Book was by some means lost & could not be ffound. ffor further Jmprovement by anoth'. committe of the gen'" court viz. m' Bellingham, m' Nat. Ward. &c. whereuppon m' Bellingham spake to me to help them to Anoth' coppie of the Afores^ Booke which jn tender Respect to publiq good, to the Hon"^ Court & Committee, J did fforthwith Again Transcribe out of my ffirst coppie although it were in haruest time. 2. Affter that it pleased the Gen'" Court Againe to Jngage me in the p'using all the laws in the Books of Records to Consider, Compare, Compose and Transcribe all laws of publiq Conc'nment, coppie-wise all which J did draw vpp together, and Drew vpp in five Books or Rowls, which done were examined by the Committe & presented to the Gen'" Court : 3. Thereuppon. J was Ordered by the Court to Transcribe the five 1 m JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. l8l Books affores'' with some other new laws, all which (save onely a few the Audit" did) J with Great care & vigilancie p'fformed & ffrequented the press & otherwise took care to Examine them during the Jm- printing the same. 4. Since which it pleased the Gen'." Court to Appoint me w"'. some others to Compose & Transcribe the Second Booke of Laws Coppie- wise. which J Allso did ; which Affter Examination by the Committee was allso p''sented to the Gen'" Court : who were pleased ffurther to Jmploy another Committe ; whereof J was one, to fifitt them ffor the press. Jn all which Services jn reference to publiq good J putt fforth my selfe to the vttermost to the Great Neglect of my p'sonall & p'ticul' occasions Devoting my selfe there vnto ffor the most p' of Two years tyme (as neer as J can rememb') the benefit wherof doth J hope verie manifestly Redound both to court & Country who doubtless vppon a right vnderstanding will not be unwilling to Afford such Due encouragement & Recompense as services of such Jmportance & Advantage to the Countrie doth Require Your Humble Servant, Jos. Hills. The Magistrates Referr the consideration of the Petition to theire brethren the Deputies : Edward Rawson, Secre\ 27 : may 1653 The Deputies think meete to allow M"" Hills ten pounds out of the next County rate in reference to what is herein exprest if the hono''' magistrates please to Consent thereto William Torrey, Cleric. Consented to by the magists hereto Edward Rawson, Secrd ^^ The connection of Joseph Hills with public afifairs was not confined to his labors on the laws. Having been elected a representative of Charlestown in 1646 and 1647, he was in the latter year Speaker of the House of Deputies ; and upon the formation of the town of Maiden he became its first represen- tative and continued in that office until the close of the year 1656. For some reason the town was not represented at the General Court from the beginning of the year 1657 "I'ltil December, 1660, when Joseph Hills again appeared as its representative and so continued until the end of 1664. In the following March he married, as his fourth wife, Ann, the widow *s Mass. Archives, xlvii. 19. Cf. Mass. Colony Records, iii. 308. 1 82 HISTORY OF MALDEN. of Henry Lunt of Newbury,^" and he is supposed to have re- moved, soon after, to the home of his wife, where he Hved until his death. He was deputy from Newbury m 1667 and 1669, after which he appears to have retired to private life, perhaps in view of the increasing infirmities which burdened his latter days. During all the years of his public life he is often found upon important committees and serving in various trusts ; and the records of the Colony and of the county of Middlesex show, in their many references, how busy was his life in the performance of the manifold duties which came to him. Besides that for the labor upon the laws, he appears to have had claims upon the Colony for money contributed as adven- turers, both by himself and Edward Mellowes, the first husband of his second wife. In the record of a grant of land made to William Parke in 1653, mention is made of "the land lately graunted to M"" Joseph Hills, at a place called Nanacanacus." ^^ Three years later this grant was confirmed, or perhaps an addi- tional grant was made, which was afterwards laid out in accord- ance with the following votes : — [May 22, 1656.] This Court doth graunt vnto M"" Joseph Hills fiue hundred acors of land neere Northwootucke, where M"" Bradstreet & others haue graunts ; & it is in consideration of an adventure of 33'' 6^ 8"^, & for seu''all services to the country.'*^ *'' Rose, the first wife, died March 24, y^ old Booke. Hee freely acknowledged i6-'».^o; and Mr. Hills married, June 24, his offence therein, and his misvnder- 1651, Hannah (Smith), the widow of standing the grounds whereon he went Edward Mellowes of Charlestown. His W^'' he now confesseth to be vnwarrant- third wife was Helen, or Eleanor, Atkin- able, And was Admonished by the son, daughter of Hugh Atkinson, of Court." Alidd. Coio-t Records, i. (jt,. In Kendall, co. Westmoreland, whom he this he had followed the example of his married January, 165?'^. She was living associate, Governor Bellingham, who January 8, 166° i, but died l^efore Novem- married himself, in 1641, to Penelope ber 10, 1662. With this marriage a Pelham, and escaped censure by his curious incident was connected, which position upon the bench as a magis- resulted in the censure of Mr. Hills for trate. Winthrop, History of A''ew Eng- breach of a law in the code which had land, ii. 43. Mr. Hills married Ann been prepared by himself. Lunt at Newbury, March 8, i66;t^. "[April I, 1656.] M'' Joseph Hills ** Mass. Colony Records, iii. 300; iv. of Mauldon being pi'sented by the Grand (i), 134. Jury for marrying of himself, contrary *"J Ibid., iii. 415. to the Law of this Collony page. 38 in JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 83 [May 31, 1660.] In ans' to the petition of M' Joseph Hills, the Court judged meete to graunt that M"' Jonathan Danforth & Jn° or James Parker be impowred to lay out vnto M' Hill the fiue hundred acres formerly, in 1656, graunted him in any place not formerly graunted.^" Norvvottocke or Nanotuck is now Northampton ; but the grant was probably laid out at Dunstable, where he owned five hundred acres at the time of his death. Once more he appears upon the records of the Colony in a pathetic petition, in which he again recites in detail the story of his former public service. To the hoifed Gene fall Court holdeii at Boston 24. May, 1682 The petition of Joseph Hills, hicmbly shewing. How it hath pleased the righteous God to lay vpon y petitioner, a smart hand of visitation in the later part of his pilgrimage totally bereaving him of the sight of his eyes, for more than 4 yeares now past, (besides sundry yeares dim- ness before) by meanes whereof he hath been utterly uncapable, of getting or saving any thing towards his necessary subsistence, being now also more than 80 yeares of age besides other infirmities of body, which long have, and are like to accompany him to his grave, your petitioner hath not been backward to his ability to be serviceable with his person & estate to the commonwealth : for besides other ordinary services, it pleased y^ court to make him one of the county committy to draw vp some orders necessary for y*" country, in which service J went ouer all y*" Statutes in Pulton at large, collected such as J deemed just & necessary, drew them up in a small book in folio, and trans- mitted them according to order to the grand committy at boston (viz) M' Winthrop, M' Ward & others, after this it pleased the Court to appoint a committy to draw vp a body of lawes for the Colony (viz) M' Winthrop & sundry others whereof your petitioner was one, to examine all y*" court records, from y"" first to that time, which for avoyding of far greater charge it being the worke but of one fell to my lot to be active in, in which J went ouer y*" 2 old bookes of recordes, y*" book of libertyes, & y*" great booke then & since in y'^ hands of AP Rawson, which lawes J brought together under theyr proper heades coppy-wise with exact markes of y'' severall emendations one way or other made therein which (after examination & approba- tion of y*" court) J was ordered to prepare for the presse, which J did, putting them together under theyr proper heads with y'^ dates of y^ sundry lawes in the foot thereof, in the year 1648 in an alphabet- ical order, with an apt table for y*= more ready recourse to each law : ^^ Miss. Colony Records, iv. (i), 430. 1 84 HISTORY OF MALDEN. for which last service it pleased the court to make me some allowance, which was to my Satisfaction, though short of the elaborate care, paines and time spent therein (these things J should not have touched upon, but that there are few of y" Court as now constituted that had y'^ opertunity to have y" cognizance thereof. The premises considered my petition is that J may be freed from all publick assessments to y^ country, County, (and secular thinges for y'' tovvne if it may be) for my infirme person and little estate now left, during the remaining part of my pilgrimage in this vale of teares. So with my dayly prayers to god only wise Just, & mercifuU to guide you in all your momentous con- cernments J crave leave to subscribe myselfe Your very humble servant Joseph Hills Jn answer to this petition the Mags: Judge meet that y"" petitioner bee freed from Country & County rates during his life, their B" the Depu- tyes hereto consenting. June: i : 82 : P. Bulkeley /'' ^n/^r Consented to by the Deputs. William Torrey Cleric.^^ A little longer he lingered in the darkness and the infirmities of age, dying at Newbury, February 5, 168^, at the age of eighty-five years.^^ In the year of the removal of Joseph Hills to Newbury the town was not represented at the General Court; but the next year, John Wayte, who had followed his father-in-law as captain ^ of the trainband, was elected as his /" iJj^ t'i/t3^6T^ successor in the office of town rep- ^-^ resentative. For an unbroken series of nineteen years he filled this office, an honorable service, the duration of which is unparalleled by that of any other represent- ative in the history of the town. Like his predecessor, he filled many places of trust and importance in the Colony, the county, and the town. In 1680 he was appointed upon a com- 51 Mass. Archives, c. 2S2. 16S6. "The library of this College is 52 The will of Joseph Hills, dated very considerable, being well furnished Sept. 14, 1687, Suffolk Co. Wills, X. 248, with books, and mathematical instru- is printed in N. E. Hist, and Geneal. ments. Sir Kenelm Digby, Sir John Register, viii. 309. His connection with Maynard, Mr. Baxter, and Mr. Joseph President Dunster points to him as the Hill, were benefactors to it." Mass. benefactor to the library of Harvard Hist. Coll., xii. 108. College mentioned by John Uunton in JOSEPH HILLS AND JOHN WAYTE. 1 85 mittee to revise the laws, a duty with which his labor in 1647 and his long experience as a legislator had doubtless made him familiar; and in 1683 he received the honor of a nomina- tion to the magistracy or Court of Assistants.^^ At this time the strife between the people of New England and the mother country, as represented by its rulers, had begun. On the one hand spies and informers were busy, and the ground was being prepared for the short and tyrannical rule of Andros. On the other side stood the party of liberty, at times with petitions to the king, at others with prayers to the Ruler of nations, but always with an unflinching hold upon their duties and their rights. Arbitrary orders were openly disobeyed or silently disregarded. Captain Wayte was iden- tified with the popular party, and his name is on the roll of honor in the *' Articles of high misdemeanour exhibited against a faction in the generall court," in which Edward Randolph denounced to the British government the eight magistrates and fifteen delegates who defended their chartered rights.^* In 1684 he was chosen Speaker of the House of Deputies. In the quaint language of a document relating to him, he soon after became " dark " and ended his public life when most honored. The petition in which he related his misfortune and asked relief from his military duties is elsewhere given. He died September 26, 1693, at the age of seventy-five years. 53 Hutchinson, Collection of Papers, 541. ^ Ibid., 527. APPENDIX. ROSE HILLS NOT ROSE DUNSTER. CHAP. VI. note i, page i66. This note remains as it was written in 1890. The same subject was afterwards treated by William S. Hills, in N. E. Hist, and Geneal. Register, xlix. 146. At the time of going to press the uncertainty had been removed and the true name of the wife of Joseph Hills had been found ; but as the information had been obtained by the researches of others, it seemed proper that I should not use for my own purposes that which had been given to me in confidence. The matter has now been made public in a report of the Hills Family Genealogical and Historical Association. Joseph Hills and Rose Cleerke [Clarke] were married at Burstead Magna, Billericay, co. Essex, July 22, 1624. Here, where some of their children were born, they remained several years ; and in March, 163%, they were of the parish of All Saints, Maldon, where the births of their children are recorded until August, 1637. As is elsewhere stated, they arrived in New England, July 17, 1638. Researches made in England by an agent of the Hills Association have given information of much interest ; and it seems probable that the ancestry of Joseph Hills may be found to be of considerable an- tiquity and importance. The work of the association should commend itself to the attention and support of the descendants of Joseph Hills, of whom not a few remain in Maiden. The intimation in the text that John Wayte may have married Mary Hills in England before 1638 is now of no force, as, if the eldest child, she would have been about thirteen years of age at that time. The records of the births of their first two children, John and Joseph, have not been found ; but the third child, Samuel, was born in Maiden, October 11, 1650. We may assume that they were married about 1644 ; and it may be that their first two children were born in England and that they came to IMassachusetts Bay some time previous to the admission of the husband to the Charlestown church, January 15, 164^/7. ^^^ silence of the records strengthens this view. 53 L8 N '10